Fascinating story. So many possibilities and motives here. Clarksdale is a cool place for people into music history. Probably one of the most cultural and artistic communities in Mississippi. Someone should (and probably will) write a book about this.

WTF Indeed:Clarksdale, MS: Home of the Delta Blues. Where the population is 54% black, the current mayor is black, and two of the four commissoners are black is a bastion of southern racism.

To be fair, not many people are familiar with that area, at least unless you are into American blues music. We all generalize Mississippi a lot, and frankly, they deserve it, but you can't blame them for just falling back on the stereotype about Mississippi. Also, homosexuality is still not accepted on a large segment of the black community, so even if bias entered into it, don't assume the perpetrator was white. I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out his race and sexual orientation had nothing to do with his murder, though.

Nabb1:To be fair, not many people are familiar with that area, at least unless you are into American blues music. We all generalize Mississippi a lot, and frankly, they deserve it, but you can't blame them for just falling back on the stereotype about Mississippi. Also, homosexuality is still not accepted on a large segment of the black community, so even if bias entered into it, don't assume the perpetrator was white. I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out his race and sexual orientation had nothing to do with his murder, though.

This is more an mark against liberal media outlets like TPM who instead of doing some basic journalism they see a story like this and infer bigotry.

WTF Indeed:Nabb1: To be fair, not many people are familiar with that area, at least unless you are into American blues music. We all generalize Mississippi a lot, and frankly, they deserve it, but you can't blame them for just falling back on the stereotype about Mississippi. Also, homosexuality is still not accepted on a large segment of the black community, so even if bias entered into it, don't assume the perpetrator was white. I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out his race and sexual orientation had nothing to do with his murder, though.

This is more an mark against liberal media outlets like TPM who instead of doing some basic journalism they see a story like this and infer bigotry.

Well, as you can see from the post above yours, there is a large group of the audience for those outlets who seem to embrace those generalizations gladly without even knowing all the facts. And sure, it could be some racist homophobic white guy - they're all over the place, even in Mississippi - but I think there's probably more to it than that.

This article has a bit more info. Apparently his SUV was involved in a wreck earlier this week, but he couldn't be found. Police are holding a "person of interest" who hasn't been charged.

The identity politics of this one should be interesting. While I'm sure we're all thinking it was some wannabe cluckers, Clarksdale is a majority black town, and the black community is frequently more parochial and homophobic than the white community. If it was in fact a hate crime, I'm gonna call it close to even odds as to where it originated.

Regardless, it is extremely sad that Mississippi has lost a man who was a force positive change. Ignoring questions of his politics or personal worth, the mere fact that he was willing to run as himself, without hiding who he was from the community... Well, Mississippi needs more politicians like him. I would suggest we ALL need more politicians like him.

WTF Indeed:Nabb1: To be fair, not many people are familiar with that area, at least unless you are into American blues music. We all generalize Mississippi a lot, and frankly, they deserve it, but you can't blame them for just falling back on the stereotype about Mississippi. Also, homosexuality is still not accepted on a large segment of the black community, so even if bias entered into it, don't assume the perpetrator was white. I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out his race and sexual orientation had nothing to do with his murder, though.

This is more an mark against liberal media outlets like TPM who instead of doing some basic journalism they see a story like this and infer bigotry.

That's an AP article, first off. Secondly, could you point me to the place in the article where they infer bigotry?

Neritz: "And his worse sin of all? He was a Democrat, in Mississippi. "

Actually, being a Democrat in Mississippi is not a sin at all. The KKK was started by Democrats. Gun control was started by Democrats in an attempt to keep the black, ex-slaves unarmed and unable to protect themselves.

theaton:Neritz: "And his worse sin of all? He was a Democrat, in Mississippi. "

Actually, being a Democrat in Mississippi is not a sin at all. The KKK was started by Democrats. Gun control was started by Democrats in an attempt to keep the black, ex-slaves unarmed and unable to protect themselves.

Reverend J:theaton: Neritz: "And his worse sin of all? He was a Democrat, in Mississippi. "

Actually, being a Democrat in Mississippi is not a sin at all. The KKK was started by Democrats. Gun control was started by Democrats in an attempt to keep the black, ex-slaves unarmed and unable to protect themselves.

So...vote Republican?

And ignore how political climates and party affiliations have shifted over the last farking century.

theaton:Neritz: "And his worse sin of all? He was a Democrat, in Mississippi. "

Actually, being a Democrat in Mississippi is not a sin at all. The KKK was started by Democrats. Gun control was started by Democrats in an attempt to keep the black, ex-slaves unarmed and unable to protect themselves.

Nope, vote your beliefs. We must stop believing there are only two parties.

There are. The structure of our government ensures that. No matter how you fight it, third parties will remain an outlier simply because of how we handle government and how Congress works. If you want more parties, move to a parliamentary system, but in this country we have two major parties that will have any sort of influence on policy at any given time.

theaton:Neritz: "And his worse sin of all? He was a Democrat, in Mississippi. "

Actually, being a Democrat in Mississippi is not a sin at all. The KKK was started by Democrats. Gun control was started by Democrats in an attempt to keep the black, ex-slaves unarmed and unable to protect themselves.

Like the current black mayor of Clarksdale? Who is a democrat and has been in office for 20 years? Part of one of the more powerful, popular and connected political families in MS?

"Is it the government's submission that the citizens in the South are more racist than the citizens in the North?"--Chief Justice John Roberts 2/17/13

More racist? Maybe not. More institutionally racist? Yes.

Someone always says this. EVERY. FARKING.

Because there is absolutely no evidence that institutional racism is, in fact, a greater problem in the north.

No evidence whatsoever.

Absolutely zero evidence.States with the highest black-to-white ratio are disproportionately located in the Northeast and Midwest, including the leading states of Iowa, Vermont, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Wisconsin. This geographic concentration is true as well for the Hispanic-to-white ratio, with the most disproportionate states being Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York, New Hampshire, and New Jersey; and,

States exhibiting high Black or Hispanic ratios of incarceration compared to whites fall into two categories: 1) those such as Wisconsin and Vermont which have high rates of black incarceration and average rates of white incarceration; and, 2) states such as New Jersey and Connecticut which have average rates of black incarceration and below-average rates of white incarceration. In both cases, the ratio of incarceration by race is higher than average.

"Is it the government's submission that the citizens in the South are more racist than the citizens in the North?"--Chief Justice John Roberts 2/17/13

More racist? Maybe not. More institutionally racist? Yes.

Someone always says this. EVERY. FARKING.

Because there is absolutely no evidence that institutional racism is, in fact, a greater problem in the north.

No evidence whatsoever.[i.imgur.com image 300x219]

Absolutely zero evidence.

States with the highest black-to-white ratio are disproportionately located in the Northeast and Midwest, including the leading states of Iowa, Vermont, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Wisconsin. This geographic concentration is true as well for the Hispanic-to-white ratio, with the most disproportionate states being Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York, New Hampshire, and New Jersey; and,

States exhibiting high Black or Hispanic ratios of incarceration compared to whites fall into two categories: 1) those such as Wisconsin and Vermont which have high rates of black incarceration and average rates of white incarceration; and, 2) states such as New Jersey and Connecticut which have average rates of black incarceration and below-average rates of white incarceration. In both cases, the ratio of incarceration by race is higher than average.

I'd be curious to see how incarceration rates look when racial distribution is taken into consideration. That is, if the states with the disproportionate incarcerations rates also happen to have well mixed populations across the state, or if minorities are almost entirely confined to the cities.

It may be true that at any given moment, there are only two parties that influence policy. However, those two parties don't have to be D and R. The main problem we have now is that there is one party. It is the big government party and it has a left wing and a right wing. The left wings wants to grow the government to steal money from people to give to those who don't want to earn it. The right wing wants to grow the government to steal money from people to blow up other countries. If you want to support the status quo, keep voting for Ds and Rs.

I've gone to far off topic on this thread with politics. My original point was that I find it strange that blacks want to be part of a party that wants to keep them enslaved. The Ds have been doing a good job of it since the end of the civil war and the blacks seem to like it.